DIY fireworks in action

John Edgar Park likes to make things and tell people about it. He builds project for Adafruit Industries, Boing Boing, and Make. He has ninja warrior goals. You can find him at jpixl.net and twitter @johnedgarpark

John Edgar Park likes to make things and tell people about it. He builds project for Adafruit Industries, Boing Boing, and Make. He has ninja warrior goals. You can find him at jpixl.net and twitter @johnedgarpark

I made some fireworks on the 4th of July from the TurboPyro kit I received. The text, photos and in-line videos in the .pdf file made it easy to follow the recipe for big, fat, awesome tube sparklers. The process was simple and fun, and I had my son write up this handy checklist:

First, you weigh out, screen, and mix potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur to make gunpowder. Allow me to repeat that: To make gunpowder! Bill Gurstelle once told me that everyone should experience making their own gunpowder; now I see why. It is exhilarating!

Next, add ferro titanium powder (that’s what makes the sparks), tamp it into a little tube, put a fuse in it, and carefully impale it on a bamboo skewer. Add a flame to the proceedings and big smiles quickly emerge.

A follow-up to the thought that my younger self would have been impressed by all of this: I was talking to my mom the other day, telling her about making sparklers. She laughed and reminded me about a secret shipment of fireworks I tried to smuggle into the house when I was in middle school. It was intercepted by my parents, and my dad drowned the whole lot of it in the bathroom sink. I can still hear the terrible screams of that gross of lady finger firecrackers; I was devastated. Well, this is my revenge mom and dad!

John Edgar Park likes to make things and tell people about it. He builds project for Adafruit Industries, Boing Boing, and Make. He has ninja warrior goals. You can find him at jpixl.net and twitter @johnedgarpark

John Edgar Park likes to make things and tell people about it. He builds project for Adafruit Industries, Boing Boing, and Make. He has ninja warrior goals. You can find him at jpixl.net and twitter @johnedgarpark